The unofficial theme for this Short Fiction Treasures column is “arts, crafts, and work.” Whether the art, craft, or work is the main theme of the story, or whether it’s there as background and setting, it can add a level of immersion and satisfying texture to speculative fiction that I find irresistible.
Platforms are not created to be equal—power dynamics tend to replicate themselves, unless there is a foundation, a structure, specifically addressing them, and a continuing conversation of checks and balances to ensure equality
The unofficial theme for this edition of Short Fiction Treasures is “family.” Family has been on my mind a lot this year, with the COVID-19 pandemic changing the way we spend more time with, or are thoroughly separated from, our loved ones. Family relationships are a crucial part of all our lives, but these relationships can be both complicated and conflicted, something that is explored in this selection of stories.
For this first quarterly roundup of speculative fiction, put together in such difficult times, Maria Haskins' unofficial theme is hope and happiness, resilience and resistance.
Carl just said ‘if the skull wants to break out, it will have to come to me for the key’, which makes me think that Carl doesn’t really understand how breaking out of a place works.
Perhaps for every African speculative fiction novel translated into whatever language, the publisher could publish another African author in their own language.
